Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is breaking with Mitt Romney and some Capitol Hill Republicans by expressing support for federal green-energy programs, including the one that provided loan help to the now-bankrupt Solyndra.

Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said she supports continuation of the Energy’s Department loan-guarantee program for green energy, and more broadly backs a federal role in boosting market deployment of alternative energy.

“I do believe there is a role, and perhaps that sets me apart from some of my other colleagues on Capitol Hill,” said Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

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“I think we need to do a critical, hard assessment and make sure it is doing that which we had intended,” she said.

But the senator warned against a “knee-jerk” response to Solyndra of seeking to torpedo the entire program.

“I think we need to get through this period and be able to reflect on what it is that actually comes out of these loan guarantee programs. We are focusing right now on the failures instead of also recognizing that we have done good things for the loan guarantee program,” Murkowski said. “We need to make sure it does what it is supposed to be doing."

Of course, Murkowski is now one of the most independent GOP voices in the Senate, after losing her Republican primary in 2010 but then winning her race as a write-in candidate.

On that same note, however, it shouldn't have been surprising that Booker and Clinton -- who reside in New Jersey and New York, respectively -- would praise private equity and Wall Street.